MANORS

The manor of HACKNEY was not described by
name in Domesday Book and was said in 1294
to have been held by the bishops of London from
time immemorial as a member of their manor of
Stepney. (fn. 1) Although accounted for separately
from the 14th century and with its own courts
by the 1580s, (fn. 2) Hackney remained with the
bishops of London until it was granted in 1550
to the Wentworth family. It was mortgaged by
way of a lease for 99 years by Thomas
Wentworth, earl of Cleveland, in 1632. (fn. 3)

Both manors figured in the complicated transactions arising from Cleveland's debts, his
forfeiture in 1650, and attempts to regain his
lands after the Restoration. (fn. 4) Hackney, distinguished from Stepney, was usually described as
a manor with lands and rights in Hackney,
Kingsland, Shacklewell, Newington Street,
Clapton, Church Street, Well Street, Grove
Street, and Mare Street, (fn. 5) an area presumably
covering most of the ancient parish. From the
time of its purchase by Richard Blackwell, treasurer of
prize goods, in 1653, (fn. 6) the main manor of Hackney
was held by a succession of Londoners. The
Wentworths' interest was finally surrendered in
1669 by Philadelphia, widow of the earl of
Cleveland's son Thomas, Lord Wentworth (d.
1665), and her daughter Henrietta Maria, Baroness Wentworth. (fn. 7)

Richard Blackwell was recorded as lord of
Hackney, as was William Hobson, the purchaser
in 1660. (fn. 8) Hobson (d. 1661 or 1662), a haberdasher who settled in Hackney, was followed by
his sons-in-law William Bolton, Patience Ward,
both of them later lord mayor, and William
White. (fn. 9) Their title was confirmed in 1663 by
agreement with the Wentworths and in 1669
they sold the manor, again with the Wentworths'
consent, to John Forth, an alderman. (fn. 10) Forth
completed its sale to Nicholas Gary and Thomas
Cooke, goldsmiths, in 1675. Cooke's assignees
and Gary's widow Susan sold it to Francis
Tyssen the elder, of Shacklewell, in 1697. (fn. 11)
Tyssen acquired two other manors in Hackney, (fn. 12)
for which separate courts had long been held.
From the early 18th century the main manor,
previously called simply Hackney, was styled the
lord's hold or LORDSHOLD.

The Tyssen family and its heirs thereafter held
all three manors. Francis Tyssen the elder (d.
1699), a naturalized merchant from Flushing
(Netherlands), had married in London in 1649
and been granted arms in 1687. (fn. 13) He or his son
Francis had been chosen a vestryman in 1689
and allotted the Rowe family's pew in 1690. (fn. 14)
The younger Francis (d. 1710) left all his lands
in Hackney, with 32 a. in Low Leyton marsh
(Essex), to his son and namesake. (fn. 15) The third
Francis married a daughter of Richard de Beauvoir
of Balmes and was succeeded in 1717 by his
posthumous son Francis John. (fn. 16)

Francis John Tyssen (d. 1781) left only illegitimate children. He settled the three Hackney
manors and nearly all his lands (fn. 17) in trust for his
sons Francis (d. 1813) and Francis John Tyssen
(d. 1814), both of whom were childless, with
remainder to his daughter Mary (d. 1800) wife
of John Amhurst of Kent. Mary's daughter
Amelia in 1814 married William George Daniel
of Dorset, who took the surname Daniel-Tyssen. (fn. 18)

W. G. Daniel-Tyssen (d. 1838), the parish's
largest landowner in 1831, (fn. 19) was succeeded by
his eldest son William George Tyssen DanielTyssen (d. 1885) of Foulden Hall (Norf.), who
in 1852 took the surname Tyssen-Amhurst. His
son William Amhurst Tyssen-Amhurst (d.
1909) of Didlington Hall, the bibliophile,
changed the spelling of his surname to TyssenAmherst in 1877 and was created Baron Amherst
of Hackney, with special remainder to his eldest
daughter Mary Rothes Margaret, wife of Lord
William Cecil, in 1892. (fn. 20) Lord Amherst, who
was defrauded of much of his fortune by Charles
Cheston, steward of the Hackney manors, (fn. 21) conveyed those manors in 1906 to his daughter, who
settled them in tail male. (fn. 22) The manors passed
with the barony from Lady Amherst of Hackney
(d. 1919) to her great-grandson William Hugh
Amherst Cecil, lord of the manors in 1990. (fn. 23)

The Tyssen estate was estimated to be c. 599
a. in 1809-10, when the densest building was at
Kingsland and farther north along the high road,
in Church Street, and at Shacklewell. (fn. 24) In 1903,
when the freeholds were mortgaged and after
housing had spread over most of the farmland,
the estate consisted of blocks of freehold property
at Stamford Hill, where a few leasehold sites
were interspersed, at Upper Clapton, near Lea
dock north of Lea bridge, and at Shacklewell. (fn. 25)
Almost all of the family's property had been sold
by 1990, some sales at Stamford Hill having
occurred as recently as 1988. (fn. 26)

HACKNEY: ESTATES OF PRINCIPAL LANDOWNERS c. 1830

Three brothers of Francis Tyssen (d. 1717),
John of Shacklewell, William, and Samuel (d. 1747
or 1748), (fn. 27) were buried in Hackney, as was John's
son John Tyssen of Well Street. (fn. 28) Another Samuel
(d. 1800), illegitimate son of Francis John, acquired land at Homerton by marriage to the first
Samuel's granddaughter Sarah Boddicott. He
lived in Norfolk, as did his son Samuel (d.
1845) (fn. 29) whose estate bordered Clapton common
in 1807 and had grown by 1816; (fn. 30) part was sold
in 1846 to Arthur Craven. (fn. 31) W. G. T. DanielTyssen's brother John Robert acted as his steward
and was prominent in local affairs. (fn. 32)

No manor house for Lordshold is known. (fn. 33)
The manor house of Shacklewell was inhabited
in the early 18th century by Tyssens and so
sometimes called the Manor House. (fn. 34) So too was
the early 19th-century house in front of the
assembly rooms in Church Street where J. R.
Daniel-Tyssen lived from 1845 until 1858, which
was sold in 1877; (fn. 35) a three-storeyed yellow-brick
composition of 2, 3, and 2 bays, with projecting
modern shops on the ground floor, it formed nos.
387, 387A, and 387B Mare Street in 1991. (fn. 36)

The Knights Templars were given lands,
probably early in the reign of Henry II, by the
king's steward William of Hastings, presumably a
kinsman of Richard of Hastings, master of the
Temple in England. The lands, called Hastingmede
in the 15th century, lay in the marsh and included
2 a. in Leyton (Essex). (fn. 37) The Templars also
received land from Ailbrith, which they granted
to Robert of Wick, in whose holding originated
the reputed manor of Wick. (fn. 38) They acquired 6
a. quitclaimed by Alice de la Grave in 1231 and
½ hide quitclaimed by Ralph de Burgham, clerk,
in 1232, (fn. 39) after a dispute between Ralph and a
younger Robert of Wick. (fn. 40) Their estate comprised c. 35½ a. in Hackney, 9 a. in Leyton, and
two mills in 1307-8, when they had pleas and
perquisites of court. (fn. 41) It passed on their suppression in 1312 to the Knights Hospitallers, who
acknowledged that 40 a. and the mills were held
of the bishop's manor in Stepney in 1337. (fn. 42) At
the Dissolution the lands passed to the Crown
and were known as the manor of Hackney or
KINGSHOLD in 1539-40. (fn. 43)

The king in 1614 granted the Hospitallers'
manor to Thomas Land and Thomas Banks,
Londoners. (fn. 44) The two mills were reserved. (fn. 45) Land
and Banks immediately conveyed their interest
to Hugh Sexey (d. 1619), who established a rent
charge to support his hospital at Bruton (Som.). (fn. 46)
In 1633 the manor was sold by Sexey's feoffees
to Humphrey Hurleston and then by Hurleston
to William Benning, who in 1647 sold it to
William Hobson. (fn. 47) Hobson's will, proved 1662,
mentioned his manor of St. John of Jerusalem. (fn. 48)
Courts were held for his sons-in-law and executors
William Bolton, Patience Ward, and William
White, who in 1668 jointly sold the manor to Sir
George Vyner, Bt. (d. 1673). (fn. 49) It passed to Sir
George's son Sir Thomas (d. 1683), a minor,
whose coheirs were his father's cousins Edith
Lambert, Elizabeth Tombs, and Elizabeth Marchant. (fn. 50) They and their heirs jointly sold their
shares in 1693 to John Sikes, a London merchant,
who in 1697 conveyed the manor to Francis
Tyssen. (fn. 51) Their shares in other lands of the
Vyners, held of Lordshold and Grumbolds manors,
were later sold to the Ryders. (fn. 52)

There may have been no manor house for
Kingshold. (fn. 53) The Hospitallers had a house
(domicilium) in Hackney in 1416, inhabited by
Richard Pande, servant and 'charioteer' of the
bishop of London. (fn. 54) In 1693 a 'capital messuage
or manor house' had an orchard and garden,
adjoined by ground where the manor pound had
stood and with 6 a. nearby, the existing pound
being at the west end of Well Street. (fn. 55) It was
presumably the 'Pilgrim's house', reputedly the
oldest house in Hackney, built around a courtyard and described as formerly moated in 1741,
when its two-storeyed front, of chequered brick
and adorned with a cross, was of three bays, each
under a stepped gable. (fn. 56) As a 'brick house at the
bottom of Well Street, commonly called King
John's Palace', it had been subdivided among
poor tenants by 1795. (fn. 57) Said in 1797 to have been
the prior of St. John's residence, (fn. 58) by 1842 it had
made way for small houses forming St. John's
Place, east of the junction of Well Street with
Palace Road (later part of the Frampton Park
estate). (fn. 59)

Another building, in Church Street nearly
opposite Dalston Lane, was illustrated in 1805
as the 'Templars' house'. Apparently early 17thcentury, it had four storeys and three projecting
bays, adorned with Ionic pilasters. It had
served as the Blue Posts tavern in the mid 18th
century, when an assembly room was added, and
was later subdivided. In 1824 most of the building
was said to have been demolished some ten years
earlier; the assembly room survived as an auctioneer's hall in 1842. Part of the site came to be
occupied by the Crown inn. (fn. 60)

A freehold estate was attached to a seat at
Clapton called in the 16th century the KING'S
PLACE and from the 18th BROOKE
HOUSE. (fn. 61) After its addition to the Tyssens'
holdings it was often assumed to have always
formed part of Kingshold, although a separate
history was sometimes recalled by its description
as the reputed manor of Brooke. (fn. 62) Perhaps it
originated in the 4 hides in Stepney held by
Robert Fafiton in 1086. Fafiton's claim to be a
tenant in chief was disputed by the bishop,
although his lands had fallen in value since the
Conquest and may therefore have lain partly
along Ermine Street in the path of William I's
army. (fn. 63) Probably it was the estate which Sir
William Estfield (d. 1446), a London alderman,
conveyed in 1439 to William Booth, rector of
Hackney and later archbishop of York, one of
whose feoffees in 1476 released his interest to
William Worsley (d. 1499), dean of St. Paul's,
whose brother had married into Booth's family. (fn. 64)
Worsley sold it in 1496 to Sir Reginald Bray,
K.G. (d. 1503), whose nephew John Bray had
sold freeholds in Hackney, presumably once
Worsley's, by 1513 to another courtier Sir
Robert Southwell (d. 1514). The land apparently
passed through Sir Robert's son Sir Richard (d.
1564) to a younger son Sir Robert (d. 1559),
Master of the Rolls, who in 1536 married Margaret, daughter of the Speaker Sir Thomas
Neville (d. 1542). (fn. 65) Neville was said to be the
holder in 1531, presumably on his daughter's
betrothal, and conveyed the estate to Henry
Percy, earl of Northumberland (d. 1537), in
exchange for lands in Sussex. (fn. 66) The impoverished earl surrendered it to the Crown in 1535
but died in Hackney. (fn. 67)

The king's 'manor of Hackney' and mansion
were granted in 1547 to Sir William Herbert,
later earl of Pembroke (d. 1570), who soon
conveyed them to the diplomatist Sir Ralph
Sadler (d. 1587). (fn. 68) Sadler sold them in 1548 to
Sir Wymond Carew of Antony (Cornw.), (fn. 69)
whose grandson the antiquary Richard Carew
(d. 1620) conveyed them in 1578 to Henry Gary,
Lord Hunsdon (d. 1596). (fn. 70) They were bought in
1583 by Sir Rowland Hayward, twice lord
mayor of London (d. 1593), (fn. 71) and in 1596 by
Elizabeth, countess of Oxford (d. 1612 or 1613),
from Hayward's executors. Elizabeth's husband
Edward de Vere, earl of Oxford (d. 1604), was
resident from 1596. The countess sold her interest to the poet Fulke Greville (d. 1628), later
Baron Brooke, in 1609. (fn. 72)

It has sometimes been assumed that Greville
received the Hospitallers' lands, which reverted to
the Crown and came to form part of Kingshold. (fn. 73)
The Grevilles, however, retained their Clapton
estate, which was disputed between Sir Fulke
Greville and Robert Greville, Baron Brooke (d.
1643), (fn. 74) and apparently were resident in the
1650s and 1660s. (fn. 75) Outlying lands in Hackney
marsh and Hackney Downs of Francis Greville,
Baron Brooke (later created Earl Brooke and earl
of Warwick), were described in 1742. (fn. 76) Most of
his 'reputed manor of Hackney', of which over
100 a. had been leased for 99 years in 1762, was
conveyed in 1819 by his grandson Henry Richard
Greville, earl of Warwick (d. 1853), to W. G.
Daniel-Tyssen. (fn. 77) The earl also sold property at
Clapton to James Powell and to Thomas Bros,
land called Paradise to William Hurst Ashpitel,
and parcels of Hackney Downs to John Alliston. (fn. 78)
The Tyssens in 1834 claimed to hold the reputed
manor of Brooke, (fn. 79) which descended thereafter
with Lordshold.

Brooke House latterly was an imposing brick
building at the north corner of Upper Clapton
and Kenninghall roads. (fn. 80) It may have been the
dean's hall on Worsley's estate, inspected in
1496 and 1498 by the Pewterers' Company of
London as a model for its new hall. It was said,
evidently in error, to have included a stone
chapel of the Elringtons, which was mistakenly
thought to have been depicted in 1642 by
Wenceslaus Hollar. When the Crown acquired
Northumberland's estate in 1535 Thomas
Cromwell rapidly put a quadrangular house of
the 15th century into a state for Henry VIII to
use it in 1535, 1536 for a reconciliation with
Princess Mary, and 1538. (fn. 81) Further repairs were
effected before the grant of 1547 to Herbert
included a 'fair house of brick', with a hall and
parlour, large gallery, chapel, and library, en
closed behind with a broad ditch. (fn. 82) Lord
Hunsdon rebuilt or remodelled the house c.
1580: his and his wife's arms adorned the ceiling
of a first-floor gallery which probably ran the
length of the E-shaped mansion, which faced the
high road from the west. Piecemeal additions
later closed the E, creating two courtyards: in
1750 there were gables, turrets, castellated sections of wall, a small wing projecting from the
south-east end, and two octagonal towers. The
whole was masked in the late 18th century by a
uniform brick front of nine bays, with a pediment over the central five. (fn. 83)

Margaret Douglas, countess of Lennox (d.
1578), retired to the house, presumably as a
lessee, and Elizabeth I paid visits in 1583 and
1587. (fn. 84) As Lord Brooke's, it was assessed as the
largest in the parish in 1664 at 37 hearths (fn. 85) and
in 1672 at 36. (fn. 86) Evelyn in 1654 and 1656 found
Lady Brooke's garden 'one of the neatest and
most celebrated in England' and much superior
to the house, (fn. 87) as did Pepys in 1666. (fn. 88) There were
several tenants by 1719. A lease was renewed in
1750 to Thomas Pangbourne (d. 1758), whose
daughter sold it to William Clarke (d. 1777), who
secured a 99-year lease, converted the house
'called the King's Place' into an asylum, and
assigned it in 1781 to John Monro. (fn. 89) Called
Brooke House in 1786, (fn. 90) it underwent alterations
which included the 19th-century division of the
long gallery and the later demolition of the small
south-west wing. The older parts, behind the
road front, were damaged in 1940 and the house
was sold with 5½ a. to the L.C.C. in 1944. The
house was demolished in 1954, (fn. 91) 'Hackney's
greatest loss this century'. (fn. 92) Restored late 16thcentury panelling, said to be from Brooke
House, adorned the Alex Fitch room on its
opening in 1926 in the War Memorial building
at Harrow school. (fn. 93)

The right of presentation to Hackney RECTORY and the rectory estate known by the mid
17th century as the manor of GRUMBOLDS(fn. 94)
lay with the lord of Hackney manor and passed
in 1550 from the bishop of London to the
Wentworths. (fn. 95) Lands in Hackney for which
payments were made at Stepney courts included
an estate of Daniel in 1349, called 'Daniels now
Grumbolds' by 1384. (fn. 96) It may have been part
of a manor called Rumbolds otherwise Cobhams, with land in Hackney, Stepney, and
London, which was vested in trustees in 1462
and 1471 (fn. 97) and was disputed 1518 × 1529. (fn. 98) The
name Cobhams probably derived from Reynold
Cobham, who surrendered his grandfather's
land in Hackney in 1404, (fn. 99) or Richard Cobham,
who surrendered in 1410, (fn. 100) rather than from
Thomas de Cobham (d. 1327), bishop of
Worcester and rector of Hackney. (fn. 101) A Grumbold
family was recorded in the early 13th century (fn. 102)
and John Grumbold of Hackney made a will in
1452. (fn. 103) Perhaps, since many rectors were nonresident, their lands came to be named after a
lessee.

Sir Thomas Heneage (d. 1553) was farmer for
the rector from 1540 and his nephew and namesake (d. 1595) was the first of several farmers
under Elizabeth I. (fn. 104) A lease, including both the
profits and the next presentation, was bought by
John Daniell and in 1601 offered as security for
payment of a heavy fine to the Crown. (fn. 105) Patronage of the rectory and the manor of Grumbolds
'to the said rectory belonging' were included in
the mortgage by the earl of Cleveland. They
were separated from Hackney manor in 1647 on
their sale to Henry White acting for William
Stephens, who formally acquired them in 1651. (fn. 106)
It was later claimed that Stephens (d. 1658) also
extorted a 31-year lease from the rector. (fn. 107)
Stephens soon sold the rectory manor to Raphael
Throckmorton, probably acting for Richard
Blackwell, who with Throckmorton sold it in
1654 to Thomas Fowkes, a London grocer. (fn. 108)
The tithes had been sold to William Hobson by
1664, when Cleveland and his son confirmed
Fowkes's right to the rectory and its lands and
other profits. (fn. 109) Fowkes and the Wentworths sold
their interests in 1673 to John Forth, alderman, (fn. 110)
from whom the estate passed in 1675 to Daniel
Farrington and in 1680 to Thomas Cooke and
Nicholas Cary. (fn. 111) Cooke and Cary's acquisition
of Lordshold (fn. 112) reunited the patronage of the
rectory and the manor of Grumbolds with the
lordship of Hackney. In 1697 Cooke and Cary
conveyed their interest to Francis Tyssen, (fn. 113)
whose heirs presented to the rectory of the
ancient parish until the ecclesiastical division of
Hackney after the death of the last sinecure
rector in 1821. (fn. 114) In 1824 the church building
commissioners confirmed the manorial rights of
the Tyssens, (fn. 115) who thereafter held Grumbolds
with Lordshold and Kingshold. (fn. 116) The tithes, on
1,560 a., were redeemed in 1842. (fn. 117)

By the 17th century it was the custom for a
rector to lease his estate to the patron. (fn. 118) In 1650
the parsonage house and glebe land, but not the
tithes, had been assigned to William Stephens. (fn. 119)
In 1697 the Revd. Richard Roach leased the
rectory, with its house, the tithes, and the manor
of Grumbolds, to the new patron Francis Tyssen
the elder for £20 a year. (fn. 120) Courts were held for
Roach's predecessor Nehemiah Moorhouse,
Thomas Cooke, as farmer, (fn. 121) and for Roach
himself by Cooke and later by Tyssen. (fn. 122)

The rectory lands, probably all along the main
street of Hackney, included Church field. (fn. 123) The
parsonage house has not been identified but in
1487 was in the highway opposite the church,
probably on the site of the Mermaid. (fn. 124) An
orchard and fishpond were claimed by the rector
c. 1580 (fn. 125) and the house had barns and c. 5 a.
attached to it on the west side in 1622. (fn. 126) It was
occupied by John Eaton, a servant of Stephens, in
1650, when the rector lived in another, presumably
smaller, house; a third house had been leased
out. It was calculated that the parsonage house,
land, and tithes might be let at an improved rent
of £140 a year, almost three times the worth of
the vicarage. (fn. 127) The court of Grumbolds in 1653
met at the parsonage house (fn. 128) but by 1688 had
come to be held at an inn. (fn. 129) The house was last
recorded, with 5 a., in 1762. (fn. 130) References to the
19th-century Rectory were to the former vicarage
house, rebuilt c. 1826. (fn. 131)

The origins of the reputed manor of WICK
lay in land which had been brought to the
Templars by Ailbrith when he entered their
order and, apart from two small holdings, had
been granted by the master Richard of Hastings
to Robert of Wick by 1185. (fn. 132) The land was held
of the Templars and, after their suppression, of
the Hospitallers. (fn. 133) It was held by Robert of
Wick's son Edmund de la Grave and later with
other parcels by Robert Belebarbe, who leased
all his lands in Wick in 1301 and conveyed them
to Simon of Abingdon, alderman, in 1316. Simon made further additions, as did his widow
Eve and her second husband John of Causton,
alderman, who sold Wyke and all their other
lands in Hackney and Stepney to Adam Francis
(d. 1375), mayor of London, in 1349; the manor
then consisted of at least two houses and 114 a.
After more purchases, some made through
agents including Nicholas atte Wyke, a clerk, the
estate passed to Adam's widow Agnes and then
to his daughter Maud, who married John
Aubrey, Sir Alan Buxhall (d. 1381), and John
de Montagu, earl of Salisbury. (fn. 134) The earl was
executed in 1400, when his forfeited estates
included the manor of Hackney Wick, with a
tenement called the Wick, held half of the bishop
of London and half of the Hospitallers. (fn. 135)

Wick was released in 1400 to Maud (d. 1424)
and in 1425 to her son Sir Alan Buxhall. (fn. 136) Sir
Alan Buxhall in 1436 conveyed Wick in remainder to Thomas de Montagu, restored as earl of
Salisbury, and his wife, to whom Thomas Buxhall
quitclaimed Wick in 1445. (fn. 137) Thereafter the estate presumably followed the vicissitudes of the
earldom of Salisbury, which passed in 1460 to
Richard Neville, earl of Warwick (d. 1471), and,
after forfeitures, was held by George, duke of
Clarence, from 1472 to 1478 and by Edward, son
of Richard, duke of Gloucester (afterwards
Richard III), from 1478 to 1484. (fn. 138) Wick was
granted, perhaps only briefly, by Edward IV to
Sir John Risley (d. 1512), (fn. 139) to whom it was
regranted by Henry VII. Risley left no sons and
in 1513 the Crown granted it to William Compton
of Chigwell (Essex), (fn. 140) although presumably it
soon passed to Clarence's reinstated daughter
Margaret, countess of Salisbury (d. 1541). Margaret sold the manor of Wick to William Bowyer,
later knighted as lord mayor of London, in 1538,
when she and her son Henry Pole, Lord Montague, quitclaimed 470 a., including marshland,
in Hackney and Stepney. (fn. 141)

Sir William Bowyer, by will proved 1544, left
Wick to his younger sons William and Henry,
with remainders to his eldest son John and
daughters Elizabeth and Agnes, all of whom
were infants and illegitimate. His death was
followed by almost 20 years of litigation involving Richard Shepherd, to whom he had leased
the manor. William and Henry Bowyer both
died without issue. Francis Chaloner, husband
of Agnes Bowyer, obtained a judgement against
the executors in 1563 (fn. 142) but died before a further
judgement was given in favour of Francis Bowyer (d. 1598), infant son of Sir William's eldest
son John Bowyer of Histon (Cambs.) in 1566. (fn. 143)
Lands in Hackney marsh were held in 1578 by
Mr. Bowyer of the Wick. (fn. 144) Apparently the
manor was not held by an older Francis Bowyer,
an alderman (d. 1581), who bought other property in Hackney (fn. 145) which in 1603 was occupied
by his son John. (fn. 146)

Benedict Haynes (d. 1611), who also held land
in Surrey, had probably acquired Wick by 1602,
when he was assessed in Hackney. (fn. 147) As a manor
with 90 a. in Hackney and Stepney, formerly
held of the Hospitallers and of the Crown, it was to
be sold by the executors of his eldest son Henry
Haynes (d. 1627). (fn. 148) In 1633 Thomas Haynes
surrendered it to John Bayliffe, (fn. 149) a lawyer who
lived in Hackney and who in 1642 vested it in
his son-in-law Oliver Clobery (d. 1649) (fn. 150) and other
creditors. Despite claims by representatives of
the Haynes family and by Bayliffe's son William,
Clobery's son Henry obtained possession in
1662 and left Wick by will proved 1665 to
Abraham Johnson, his father's executor. (fn. 151) Abraham by will dated 1674 left it to his son Edward
Johnson, who resisted renewed claims and in
1690 sold it to Edward Ambrose.

The Wick estate was conveyed in 1753 by
Edward Woodcock to Joseph Barbaroux (fn. 152) and
consisted of c. 112 a. in 1763, when Barbaroux
sold it. (fn. 153) Most of it was bought back by Woodcock, a lawyer, who in 1776 acquired a copyhold
parcel from John Mann. (fn. 154) The estate passed to
Woodcock's son Edward (d. 1792), vicar of
Watford (Herts.), (fn. 155) on the death of whose widow
Hannah in 1796 it was sold to William Gilbee, (fn. 156)
who held what was still described as the manor
in 1809. (fn. 157) The estate belonged to a Capt. Gilbee
in 1831 and was thought to remain in his family
in 1842. (fn. 158) It may have been divided like the
copyhold, which passed to William Gilbee's sons
William and James in 1831, when the younger
William sold his interest to the speculator William Bradshaw. (fn. 159) James was admitted to his share
of the copyhold in 1838. (fn. 160) Catherine Habershon
and Isabella Seymour were James's heirs in 1864
and surrendered to Mary Anne Bradshaw in
1866. (fn. 161)

A chief house existed in 1566 (fn. 162) and 1627 (fn. 163) and
probably in 1399 when Richard Grey, a scion of
the Barons Grey of Rotherfield (Oxon.), made
his will at the Wick in Hackney. (fn. 164) A later house
was said to have been built by John Bayliffe (fn. 165) and
presumably was Henry Clobery's, which had 20
hearths in 1664, when it stood empty. (fn. 166) The Wick
(Wyke) or Hackney Wick House was shown
mistakenly on the west side of Wick Lane in
1745 (fn. 167) and on the east side, with pleasure grounds
called the Islands covering c. 12 a., in 1763. (fn. 168)
Joseph Barbaroux apparently lived there, (fn. 169) but
the mansion and its grounds, with a mill house
and field to the north, were not included in the
sale of 1763 to Woodcock. (fn. 170) Wick House in 1809
was on lease with c. 32 a. from Gilbee to the
astronomer and physicist Mark Beaufoy, who
made a balloon ascent from Hackney Wick and
left in 1815. (fn. 171) Apparently rebuilt after 1760, it
was later rendered and given a new porch before
serving as Wick Hall collegiate school from 1841.
Wick Hall made way for Gainsborough Square
c. 1862, when two other buildings on the estate,
one a cottage possibly incorporating Bayliffe's
house and the other called Manor Farm, were
also demolished. (fn. 172)

The reputed manor of SHOREDITCH PLACE,
later held by ST. THOMAS'S HOSPITAL,
probably originated in lands accumulated by Sir
John of Shoreditch (d. 1345), baron of the
Exchequer, and his wife Ellen (fn. 173) and by his
brother Nicholas of Shoreditch, a London citizen. (fn. 174)
In 1324 Richard of Norton, a citizen, and his
wife Maud conveyed to Sir John and Ellen first
a house, 55 a., and rents in Hackney (fn. 175) and
secondly a capital messuage called De La Grave,
which Maud and her previous husband John
Borewell had bought in 1319 from John of
Bodley. (fn. 176) Sir John thereafter acquired several
smaller properties in Hackney, as did Nicholas
of Shoreditch (fn. 177) (d. by 1358). (fn. 178) The Hospitallers
in 1349 granted Nicholas a building and adjacent
places called Beaulieu in Hackney, which had
been held by John of Banbury, (fn. 179) recorded from
1321. (fn. 180) John, son of Nicholas of Shoreditch, was
active in Hackney until the 1380s. (fn. 181) Payments at
the Stepney courts were made for Hackney lands
of William de Ver in 1384 and of John
Shoreditch, formerly of William de Ver, in 1405,
suggesting that de Ver's Domesday holding may
have lain in Hackney. (fn. 182) Elizabeth Shoreditch
held lands late of John Shoreditch in 1412, (fn. 183) and
John's grandson John received lands in Hackney
and Ickenham in 1422. (fn. 184)

Robert Shoreditch in 1452-3 successfully
claimed lands in Chelsea and Hackney which
had been held by his father John (fn. 185) and in 1473
leased 21 a. in Hackney to Simon Elrington. (fn. 186) In
1478, on his son George's betrothal to Elizabeth
Tey or Taye, Robert promised to make a settlement
out of his other Hackney lands, (fn. 187) including the
Grove house which was presumably the capital
messuage called De La Grave. Between 1487
and 1491 George Shoreditch conveyed most of
the lands to Henry and John Tey, who allowed
him to hold the Grove house for life, and to
John's son William. (fn. 188) In 1488 George also quitclaimed 43 a. to John Elrington. (fn. 189) William Tey
had recently held 100 a. in Hackney and
Shoreditch in 1504-5, when quitents were paid
to the Hospitallers and the bishop of London. (fn. 190)

William Tey of Colchester in 1513 surrendered
a house and c. 147 a. in Hackney and Tottenham,
formerly the Shoreditches', to the executors of
Henry VII (fn. 191) and in 1517 the bishop of London
licensed their transfer from the executors to the
hospital of the Savoy, (fn. 192) founded in 1505 and
endowed under Henry's will. (fn. 193) The Savoy's
estates included the manor of Shoreditch Place
otherwise Ingilroweshold in 1535 (fn. 194) and 61 a. in
London Field with a toft called Barber's Barn,
held of the Hospitallers, in 1539. (fn. 195) On the
Savoy's dissolution in 1553 the manor was
among the lands granted to the corporation of
London for the royal hospitals of Christ, Bridewell,
and St. Thomas, Southwark. (fn. 196)

Shoreditch Place, surveyed in 1560, may by
then have been assigned to St. Thomas's hospital.
It was estimated to contain 148 a. in 1560, (fn. 197)c.
107 a. in 1608, (fn. 198) 121 a. in 1628, when the lands
lay mainly in blocks south of Well Street, south
of Morning Lane, and at Upper Clapton, (fn. 199) as in
1697, (fn. 200) and 129½ a. in 1741. (fn. 201) Leases were made
of the whole estate in the 17th century, often for
21 years. (fn. 202) Sir Thomas Player secured an extension in 1671 in return for having rebuilt the
bowling green house. In 1720, after the expiry
of a lease granted in 1697, (fn. 203) separate leases were
negotiated directly with the undertenants. (fn. 204) The
hospital leased most of its lands to builders from
the mid 19th century (fn. 205) and received more than
700 ground rents in south Hackney, besides
many in Clapton, in 1931. (fn. 206) Only a small area,
between the west side of Mare Street and the
railway, was retained in 1990, when the hospital's
trustees drew rents and held the reversion of
ground rents on premises in Mare Street and
Richmond Road. (fn. 207)

The capital messuage called De La Grave (fn. 208) was
presumably the Grove house recorded in the
later 14th and 15th centuries (fn. 209) and the 'manor
place' which had two barns, two stables, and a
dovehouse in 1504-5. (fn. 210) In 1612 the hospital's
tenant William Cross was to rebuild the manor
house in brick. (fn. 211) In 1628 it was formally depicted
as a castellated building of five bays, with a yard
on the west, an orchard, and gardens on the east
of over 4 a.; it was approached by a drive (the
modern Shore Road) running south from Well
Street (fn. 212) and in the mid 17th century by Tryon's
Place (later Tudor Road) from Mare Street.
Nothing substantiates the tradition, recorded in
1720, that Edward IV's mistress Jane Shore
lived there. (fn. 213)

The tenant in 1647 claimed that his improvements included brick garden walls; (fn. 214) the
battlements on the house succumbed to storm
damage c. 1661. (fn. 215) By 1720, when it was let
annually with only 1 a. besides the garden, the
house was in bad repair. (fn. 216) It was called
Shoreditch House in 1697 (fn. 217) and Shore Place (a
name also applied to the immediate neighbourhood), or more commonly Shore House, in the
18th century. (fn. 218) Three storeys and five projecting
bays were depicted c. 1730 (fn. 219) and a brick wing
had been added to the north by 1740. (fn. 220) Recorded
but not named c. 1745, (fn. 221) the house disappeared
soon after the grant of a building lease to a
London speculator, Thomas Flight, in 1768.
Flight's buildings in 1770 included a house
subleased to Gedaliah Gatfield and later known
as Shore House, on part of the garden south and
east of the site. (fn. 222) Remains of c. 1320 and later
were excavated in the garden of no. 18 Shore
Road in 1978. (fn. 223)

The reputed manor of HOXTON or BALMES(fn. 224)
lay north of the modern district called Hoxton
and from 1697 wholly within the south-western
corner of Hackney, where previously the parish
boundary with Shoreditch had been uncertain.
In 1351 Sir John of Aspley (d. 1355) leased out
all his manor of Hoxton in Hackney, (fn. 225) which
apparently Robert of Aspley had bought from
John and Maud Birtecurte in 1305-6, when it
consisted of a house, mill, 167½ a., and rents in
Hackney and elsewhere. Sir John's widow Elizabeth
sold the manor, leased for 10 years to St. Mary's
hospital, to John of Stodeye and others in 1372. (fn. 226)
John of Stodeye (d. 1376), mayor of London,
held land which came to his son-in-law Sir John
Philpot (d. 1384), (fn. 227) mayor of London, who in
1365 had received land in Stepney and Hackney
which had fallen to the Crown as creditor of
John Marreys and in 1375 more property from
Sir John at Hale and his wife Ellen. (fn. 228) By will
proved 1389 Philpot left all his lands to his
widow Margaret for life; the lands formerly of
John of Stodeye and the manor of Hulls in Mile
End were then to pass to his daughter and her
intended husband John at Hale and a place called
Hoxton was left to his sons Thomas and Edward. (fn. 229)

The Hoxton estate probably gained the name
Balmes from Adam Bamme (d. 1397), mayor of
London, who married Sir John Philpot's
widow. (fn. 230) Margaret had rents in Hackney of £6
13s. 4d. in 1412. (fn. 231) Sir John's descendant John
Philpot of Compton (Hants) (d. 1484) (fn. 232) left the
'manors' of Hoxton and Mile End, held of the
bishop of London for 12s. and 17s. respectively,
to his son John (d. 1502), (fn. 233) whose son Peter in
1510 claimed livery of lands which included the
manor of Hoxton 'otherwise called Barns', valued
at,£16. (fn. 234) As the manor of Balmes, the estate
passed from Sir Peter Philpot (d. 1540) to his
sons Henry (d.s.p. 1567) and Thomas (d. 1586),
Thomas's son Sir George (d. 1624), and Sir
George's son Sir John, who in 1634 sold it to
Sir William Whitmore of Apley (Salop). Balmes
then consisted of a house, a cottage, two gardens,
an orchard, and 153 a. in Hackney, Shoreditch,
and Tottenham. (fn. 235)

Sir William Whitmore's father William, a
haberdasher, had held a lease of Balmes at his
death in 1593. (fn. 236) Sir William's purchase in 1634
was on behalf of his younger brother Sir George
(d. 1654), the royalist lord mayor, who received
Charles I at Balmes in 1641. (fn. 237) The estate was
sequestrated and in 1644 leased for three years
to Thomas Richardson, (fn. 238) but restored on Sir
George's discharge in 1651. (fn. 239) It passed to Sir
George's son William (d. 1678) and to William's
son William (d. 1684), on whose death under age
it was sold in 1687 to Richard de Beauvoir,
formerly of Guernsey. (fn. 240)

Richard de Beauvoir (d. 1708) was presumably
resident, since his memorial tablet was placed in
the church. (fn. 241) His son Osmond Beauvoir or de
Beauvoir (d. 1757) bought an estate at Downham
(Essex), (fn. 242) where he lived and was followed by
his youngest son the Revd. Peter (d.s.p. 1821),
the last sinecure rector of Hackney. (fn. 243) The Balmes
estate passed to Richard Benyon of Englefield
House (Berks.), grandson of Francis John
Tyssen's sister Mary Benyon and great-grandson
of Richard de Beauvoir's daughter Rachel, wife
of Francis Tyssen (d. 1717). For Benyon, who
assumed the surname Benyon de Beauvoir in
1822, (fn. 244) the Balmes estate comprising c. 150 a.
west of Kingsland Road was, after 10 years of
litigation with the developer William Rhodes (d.
1843), built up as De Beauvoir Town. (fn. 245) Richard
Benyon de Beauvoir was succeeded in 1854 by
his nephew Richard Fellowes (d. 1897), who
took the name Benyon and was succeeded by his
own nephew James Herbert Benyon (d. 1935) of
Englefield House. (fn. 246) In 1950, when owned by
Herbert Benyon, the estate had contracted since
1935; (fn. 247) it still embraced 20 wharves, a public
house, and property in 17 roads in 1992. (fn. 248)

Balmes House, built according to tradition by
two Spanish merchants and named after them
in the 1540s, (fn. 249) bore a name used in 1510 (fn. 250) and
occupied a moated site. It stood on the present
De Beauvoir Road, midway between the canal
and Downham Road, (fn. 251) and was said to have had
a single entrance, by a drawbridge from the
south, until the late 18th century, (fn. 252) although in
1707 water was shown only as bounding its
pleasure grounds to the north and west. The
building depicted in 1707 (fn. 253) has been attributed
to work done for Sir George Whitmore c. 1635 (fn. 254)
and was assessed at 28 hearths in 1664 and
1672. (fn. 255) It was of brick and two-storeyed, with a
steep roof containing two sets of dormers; the
main front had five bays, separated by giant
pilasters which were uncommon at that date and
perhaps unique in England in that they were
paired. A shallow two-storeyed projection to the
east may have survived from an older house, as
apparently did some early Jacobean woodwork
in the 19th century. The house stood in formal
gardens, with a gatehouse immediately to the
south and farm buildings in the south-east corner;
lines of trees stretched beyond and formed
an avenue, (fn. 256) later called Balmes Walk, from
the gatehouse to Hoxton. The avenue was replanted and the entrance gate replaced c. 1794, (fn. 257)
when Balmes served as a lunatic asylum. (fn. 258) Streets
had been planned on all sides by 1831, (fn. 259) housing
reached the gates by 1842, (fn. 260) and the mansion
was demolished soon after 1852, (fn. 261) when it was
recorded as 'one of our earliest specimens of brickwork and of the Italian school of architecture'. (fn. 262)

Sir John Heron of Shacklewell, formerly treasurer of the king's chamber, (fn. 263) by will dated 1522
left to his eldest son Giles, a minor, land including
copyholds in Shacklewell, Kingsland, and Newington, which presumably formed the bulk of
the reputed manor of SHACKLEWELL; a second
son Edmund was to have a house at Hackney,
with a close and all the Church field. (fn. 264) Sir John's
widow was the most highly assessed parishioner
for the subsidy in 1524. (fn. 265) Giles Heron entered
parliament in 1529, when he married Cecily,
daughter of Sir Thomas More. He disputed
lands in Hackney with his brother Christopher
in 1534 and was executed for treason in 1540. (fn. 266)
His forfeited Shacklewell estate, including a
'manor or mansion' held of the bishop of London,
was then in the hands of Sir Ralph Sadler, (fn. 267) to
whom it was granted for 21 years in 1543. (fn. 268)

Sir Ralph, whose father Henry Sadler had
recently bought a house in Hackney in 1521, was
later said to be the richest commoner in England
and also held Kingshold. He may have acquired
Shacklewell to protect the Herons' interests:
Giles's infant sons appealed to Sadler in 1540,
when two of Giles's brothers were described as
Sadler's servants. (fn. 269) In 1551 the bishop of London was licensed to convey his rights in the house
and other lands lately occupied by Giles Heron
to Lord Wentworth. (fn. 270) Thomas, Giles's elder
son, was restored in 1554 but sold Shacklewell
to Alderman Thomas Rowe in 1566. (fn. 271)

Rowe, a merchant tailor, was knighted as lord
mayor in 1569. (fn. 272) He had bought land in Hackney
in 1550, 70 a. from Thomas Colshill and another
70 a. from Edward Pate, (fn. 273) and in 1557 30 a.,
called May field and Broadleas, from Thomas
Elrington. (fn. 274) He apparently lived at Shacklewell
and in 1570 (fn. 275) was succeeded by his son Sir
Henry (d. 1612), who also became lord mayor. (fn. 276)
Sir Henry left to his son Henry, later knighted
and an alderman, the house at Shacklewell with
18 a. adjoining and other freehold and copyhold
parcels in Hackney; land in Tottenham and
Edmonton went to a second son Thomas. (fn. 277) The
younger Sir Henry (d. 1661) built the Rowe
chapel (fn. 278) and possibly was related to the regicide
Col. Owen Rowe (d. 1661), who sometimes
attended the vestry with him and was buried at
Hackney. (fn. 279) Sir Henry was succeeded at Shacklewell by his grandson Henry Rowe (d. 1670), (fn. 280)
whose son Henry sold most of the family's
freehold estate in 1685 to Francis Tyssen (d.
1699), (fn. 281) who complained about its encumbrances (fn. 282) and who by 1697 was described as of
Shacklewell. (fn. 283) The Rowes, who had given up
their pew in Hackney church by 1690, left their
chapel to be disputed between the vestry and a
more prosperous branch of the family at
Muswell Hill. (fn. 284) Henry Rowe returned to Hackney
in 1706 to seek parish relief, which he received,
exempted from wearing a pauper's badge in
1710, until 1711. (fn. 285)

Sir John Heron had a house at Shacklewell, (fn. 286)
presumably the 'ancient manor house' recorded
in 1720. It was then a three-storeyed brick
building, with tall sash windows and a pair of
Dutch gables and glass displaying the arms of
the Rowes. (fn. 287) The house was assessed at 25
hearths in 1664 (fn. 288) and 1672. (fn. 289) It was occupied by
Francis Tyssen (d. 1710) and his son Francis (d.
1717) (fn. 290) and came to be called the manor house. (fn. 291)
In 1743 Richard Tillesley, a Shoreditch carpenter,
assigned his lease of the house and grounds to
Charles Everard, a Clerkenwell brewer. By 1762
the house had gone and 12 new houses occupied
the grounds of 3 a. (fn. 292) west of Shacklewell green.
Ancient gate piers survived in 1824, when a
second manor house stood closer to the road; it
made way for Seal Street c. 1880. (fn. 293)

The hospital of St. Mary without Bishopsgate (fn. 294)
in 1535 received c. £80 a year from its Middlesex
estate, derived almost equally from a manor
called HICKMANS and from BURGANES
lands in Hackney, Stepney, and Shoreditch. (fn. 295) It
had a rent in Hackney in 1232. (fn. 296) John of Banbury
gave 33 a. in Hackney and Enfield for a chantry
in 1338 and a further 28 a. in Hackney in 1349.
The prior acquired other lands in Hackney,
Stepney, and Shoreditch in 1349, including 24
a. from Nicholas of Shoreditch, (fn. 297) and in 1362; (fn. 298)
he was allowed to retain 60 a. in Hackney, which
had been held without licence, in 1363. (fn. 299) More
land in the three parishes was acquired in 1376. (fn. 300)
By 1412 the prior had lands worth £10 in
Hackney. (fn. 301) In 1507 cottages in Church Street,
held of Hackney rectory, were seized for nonpayment of rent over 20 years. (fn. 302)

The estate in 1540 included London Field of
c. 100 a. and parcels in the other common fields
and marsh, many of which had been leased out
shortly before the hospital's suppression in
1538. (fn. 303) Royal grantees of the divided estate
included Francis Jobson in 1544 (followed by
William Beryff in 1545), (fn. 304) Sir Ralph Warren,
alderman, who secured Burganes lands in 1544-5, (fn. 305)
and Sir Thomas Darcy, who received London
Field in 1546. (fn. 306) Robert Heneage, an officer in
the court of Augmentations and brother of Sir
Thomas (d. 1553), bought some of the lands and
had sold c. 27 a. to Alexander Avenon by 1551 (fn. 307)
and a further 25 a. in 1553. (fn. 308) Avenon, knighted
as lord mayor of London, settled his Hackney
lands in trust in 1570. (fn. 309) His son or grandson
Alexander held c. 40 a. in Hackney as a minor
in 1594 (fn. 310) and conveyed c. 25 a. to Sir Robert Lee
(d. 1605), a former lord mayor, in 1604. (fn. 311) Seven
a. which Lee leased in 1605 to Ralph Treswell
included a new house where Treswell lived. (fn. 312)

Sir Robert Lee (fn. 313) bought land in Suffolk and
was succeeded by his son Sir Henry Lee (d.
1620) (fn. 314) who left the reversion of Burganes land
to his son Sir John, a minor. (fn. 315) Middlesex property was disputed between Sir John's three
daughters and his infant grandson Thomas Lee
in 1674. (fn. 316) Presumably it passed to Baptist Lee
of Ipswich, who by will proved 1768 (fn. 317) left his
property in and around London to his late
niece's husband Nathaniel Acton (d. 1795) for
life, with remainder to Nathaniel's son, who was
to take the name Nathaniel Lee Acton. (fn. 318)

In 1836 Nathaniel Lee Acton was succeeded
by his sisters Caroline Acton and Harriot (d.
1852), widow of Sir William Middleton, Bt. (d.
1829), of Shrubland Park (E. Suff.). (fn. 319) Harriot's
son and heir Sir William Fowle Fowle Middleton,
Bt. (d. 1860), was succeeded by his sister Sarah,
wife of Adm. Sir George Nathaniel Broke, Bt.
(d. 1887) (later Broke-Middleton), who was also
childless. The Middlesex estates were entailed
in favour of Sir William's great-niece Jane
Broke, from 1882 wife of James Saumarez,
Baron de Saumarez (d. 1937). Lady de Saumarez
(d. 1933) (fn. 320) sold her Hackney property by auction
in 1921.

The estate, c. 95 a. in 1777 (fn. 321), lay mainly in
Shoreditch. A field near Kingsland Road
stretched into Hackney, south and west of the
later Middleton and Queensbridge roads, and a
separate piece of land stretched from Mare
Street to the south end of the later Eleanor Road,
bordering London Fields; (fn. 322) another detached
portion lay in Bethnal Green. In 1838 Sir W. F.
F. Middleton bought part of the former Spurstowe estate with a view to extending
development northward along the entire length
of Eleanor Road. (fn. 323) An Act of 1808 had removed
a restriction of leases to 21 years, under Baptist
Lee's and other wills, permitting building leases
of up to 99 years. (fn. 324) In Hackney planned development began along Middleton Road in 1840
and was facilitated by agreements and some
exchanges of land, mainly with the Rhodes
family, from 1843.

The estate centred on CLAPTON HOUSE
originated in acquisitions by the Woods, a Lancashire family of courtiers. Thomas Wood (d.
1649), Serjeant of the Pantry, lived in Hackney
in 1597 and in 1627, (fn. 325) when he became a vestryman. (fn. 326) He left the 'manor house' where he dwelt
to his eldest son Sir Henry (d. 1671), treasurer
to Queen Henrietta Maria and a baronet, whose
heir was apparently his brother Thomas (d.
1692), bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. (fn. 327) The
bishop, who had been admitted to copyholds of
c. 15 a. at Clapton in 1651, (fn. 328) normally lived in
Hackney. Subject to provision for his almshouses, he left all his lands to his nephew Henry
Webb (d. 1713). (fn. 329) In 1720 the estate was divided
between Charles, son of the bishop's sister Mary
Cranmer, Henry's daughters Elizabeth and
Anne Webb, and the four daughters of Henry's
elder brother Thomas Webb, including Elizabeth,
wife of Sir William Chapman, Bt. (fn. 330) Chapman
soon acquired the shares of the others in Hackney
but as a result of the failure of the South Sea
Co. they were sold in 1723 to a Huguenot silk
merchant Rene de Boyville (d. by 1743). (fn. 331) René's
widow Louise sold the mansion house in 1749
to a gem merchant Jacob de Moses Franco, who
had paid rates in Hackney since 1736. (fn. 332) Jacob,
whose younger brother Joseph also held copyholds in Clapton, (fn. 333) bought more copyholds (fn. 334) and
by will proved 1777 left his Clapton estate to his
grandson Jacob Franco. (fn. 335) The grandson by will
dated 1780 left it to his brother David, afterwards Francis, Franco of Great Amwell
(Herts.), (fn. 336) who acquired the copyholds which
had been left by Joseph to a nephew Raphael
Franco and who sold his enlarged estate of c. 22
a. in 1799 to James Powell. (fn. 337)

James Powell (d. 1824), a wine merchant, (fn. 338) was
the youngest son of David Powell (d. 1784),
scion of a Suffolk family who had prospered in
London in partnership with James Baden and
who had bought and perhaps remodelled the
later Byland House. (fn. 339) He may have been related
to James Powell, a vintner who had held land in
Hackney since 1718 and whose sons James and
Joshua succeeded in 1765. (fn. 340) James Powell (d.
1824) built up a substantial estate between 1785
and 1821 by purchases from, among others, F.
J. Tyssen's trustees, the Revd. Benjamin Newcome's heirs, and the earl of Warwick. (fn. 341) He also
inherited the Suffolk lands of his brother Baden
(d. 1802) and bought Newick Park (E. Suss.) in
1809. Most of the lands went to James's son
Thos. Baden Powell (d. 1868), rector of Newick,
whose heirs disposed of them piecemeal. (fn. 342)

Some of James's purchases in Clapton went to
his elder daughter Hester, (fn. 343) wife of her cousin
Baden Powell (d. 1844) of Langton Green
(Kent), who in 1798 enlarged his estate at Stamford
Hill; (fn. 344) he was father of the Revd. Baden Powell
(d. 1860), Savilian professor of geometry, (fn. 345) and
grandfather of Robert, Baron Baden-Powell (d.
1941), founder of the Boy Scouts. A younger
brother of Baden was James Powell (d. 1840),
who bought the Whitefriars glass works and in
1839, when described as of Shore Place, (fn. 346) took a
lease of Clapton House from the Revd. T. B.
Powell, his cousin and brother-in-law. James
was followed at Clapton House by his sons
James Cotton Powell, the first incumbent of St.
James's, and Arthur, who continued the glass
firm, until c. 1851. (fn. 347) Other purchases of James
Powell (d. 1824) went to his daughter Anne, wife
of the Revd. Robert Marriott. (fn. 348) They passed to
Anne's heir the Revd. James Powell Goulton
Constable, whose estate included Noble's nursery,
Cromwell Lodge, and five other large houses
when it was auctioned in 1882. (fn. 349)

The Woods' house, which Thomas probably
inherited rather than built, (fn. 350) stood on the east
side of Lower Clapton Road. It was assessed at
14 hearths in 1672, as when Bishop Wood lived
there. (fn. 351) It was called the bishop's mansion for
over a century, Lizhards or Leezhards (a name
that is unexplained) in 1749, and Clapton House in
1799. (fn. 352) Improvements 'nearly equal to rebuilding'
were made for the lessee Israel Levin Salomons
(d. 1788). Features included a marble paved hall,
a library, (fn. 353) and, in the 5 a. of pleasure grounds, a
structure resembling an orangery or banqueting
room, which was built as a private synagogue. (fn. 354)

Tenants occupied the house in 1749 and
1799. (fn. 355) They always did so under James Powell
(d. 1824), who lived in a house bought from the
Tyssens on the west side of the road, (fn. 356) and his
son, who leased Clapton House both as a residence and a school. (fn. 357) It stood empty in 1884, an
imposing building of three storeys and attics; the
road front, behind ornate iron gates, was of seven
bays, separated by pilasters and with rustication
at the corners, beneath a bold cornice. It was
demolished c. 1885 to make way for Thistlewaite
Road. (fn. 358) The neighbouring residence later called
Byland House (no. 185 Lower Clapton Road),
which bore David Powell's initials on a cistern
of 1761, served as a vicarage for the second and
third incumbents of St. James's, both of them
related to the Revd. T. B. Powell. It passed to
his younger son James David (d. 1919), whose
trustees sold it to Hackney council in 1932. (fn. 359)

The compact estate of the NORRIS family
began with purchases by Hugh Norris (d. 1661),
the scion of a Somerset family who became an
alderman and treasurer of the Levant Co. In
1653 he bought a large house and 31 a. in
Hackney (fn. 360) from Edward Misselden (d. 1654),
another London merchant. (fn. 361) The land, enfranchised by Richard Blackwell in 1654 but later
treated as copyhold of Lordshold manor, (fn. 362) lay
partly in Broomfield and the marsh but mainly
on the east side of Grove Street in the middle
field of Well Street common. (fn. 363) It passed to
Hugh's eldest son Hugh (d. 1693) (fn. 364) and then to
the younger Hugh's children Hugh, Henry, and
Hester, whose shares by agreements of 1709 and
1715 were reunited under Henry (d. 1762). (fn. 365)
Thereafter it descended in a direct line to Henry
Norris (d. 1790), (fn. 366) to Henry Handley Norris (d.
1804), a Russia merchant, (fn. 367) and to Henry Handley
Norris (d. 1850), rector of South Hackney. The
rector's son Henry Norris (d. 1889) of Swalcliffe
Park (Oxon.) (fn. 368) managed the estate from 1843,
when it contained c. 34 a. (fn. 369) The land was
enfranchised in 1853 (fn. 370) and built over in the 1860s. (fn. 371)
Most of the freeholds were sold by Henry Everard
Du Cane Norris in the 1920s and 1930s. (fn. 372)

Hugh Norris (d. 1661) and his son lived in
Hackney. (fn. 373) Henry Norris (d. 1762) leased his
Hackney residence in 1725 but resumed possession after four years. (fn. 374) Henry Norris (d. 1790)
moved to Essex, leasing the Hackney house
rebuilt by his father, (fn. 375) but both Henry Handley
Norris (d. 1804) and his son the rector lived in
Hackney. (fn. 376) The last resident Norris was the
rector's widow Henrietta Catherine (d. 1854). (fn. 377)

The Norrises' house, on the east side of Grove
Street, was a large rambling structure in 1725, (fn. 378)
when it was drawn by William Stukeley as 'a
model of our ancient way of building'. Ornate
plasterwork adorned a long range of two storeys,
with an attic and north and south wings projecting
towards the road; two stair turrets, their jettied
upper floors forming polygonal pavilions, were
in the style used at Nonsuch Palace, begun in
1538. (fn. 379) Henry Norris replaced it with a more
compact house, commissioned in 1729 and
finished in 1730, designed probably by James
Shephard, a London builder, with three storeys
over a basement; the main front was of five bays,
with a central Doric porch. (fn. 380) The house, with
well stocked gardens, was leased to Paul
Amsinck, a London merchant, in 1761 (fn. 381) and,
after serving as Henry Handley Norris's rectory,
made way in the 1860s for the west end of
Penshurst Road. (fn. 382)

The copyhold land of the CASS estate, enfranchised in 1770 (fn. 383) for the trustees of the Sir
John Cass Foundation, formed the largest estate
in southern Hackney in 1843. (fn. 384) Most of it came
from Henry Monger, who acquired part through
marriage to Bridget, daughter of William
Swayne (d. 1649). (fn. 385) Parcels of Swayne's land had
been in varied ownership in the late 15th and
16th centuries: they included land in Well Street
common field recorded from 1442 (fn. 386) and land in
Grove Street sold by William Leigh to John
Bowes in 1535, by John's son Jeremy to Arthur
Dericote, a draper, in 1557, and by Arthur's son
Thomas to William Swayne's uncle and namesake in 1599. (fn. 387)

Monger, by will proved 1669, founded almshouses in Well Street and divided the residue of
his estate between his son-in-law Thomas
Chamberlain, Joan, widow of William Martin,
and his maidservants Hester and Alice Eames. (fn. 388)
By surrenders from 1673 and by Joan Martin's
will, proved 1681, c. 75 a. passed to Hester (d.
1681) and her husband Thomas Cass, carpenter
to the Royal Ordnance. They descended in 1699
to Thomas's son (fn. 389) John (d. 1718), later knighted
as a Tory M.P. and alderman. (fn. 390)

Sir John died in Hackney, 'neither loving nor
beloved in the parish'. His intention to establish
schools in St. Botolph's, Aldgate, and in Hackney
went unfulfilled with regard to Hackney, but
after a Chancery decree the trustees of the Sir
John Cass Foundation held his lands in Hackney
and elsewhere, paying a rent charge towards
Monger's almshouses. The Hackney estate, to
which Sir John's widow Elizabeth (d. 1732) (fn. 391)
was admitted in 1719, (fn. 392) was estimated in 1817
at c. 87 a. around Grove Street, east of Well
Street, and in the north and south fields of Well
Street common; another c. 13 a. lay in Bethnal
Green, and c. 50 a. in the marsh. (fn. 393) The trustees,
like the governors of St. Thomas's hospital, were
for long concerned chiefly with letting the lands
in the largest possible segments. Joseph Sureties,
a local farmer, took nearly 70 a. from Well Street
towards. Hackney Wick in 1765 and was followed
by William Gigney from 1786; the land thus
came to be known as Sureties's or Gigney's
farm. Development was attempted by Gigney
and from 1790 by underlessees of James Jackson,
but systematic building was possible only from
1847 on the expiry of Gigney's lease. (fn. 394) The Cass
Foundation held c. 73 a. in Hackney, excluding
lands in the marsh, in 1843, when the land in
Bethnal Green was about to be sold to the Crown
for Victoria Park. Building in the 1850s and
1860s (fn. 395) produced an income which permitted the
establishment of the Sir John Cass technical
institute. (fn. 396)

The extent of the estate changed little until
after the Second World War. It contained 1,178
separate leases in 1957. (fn. 397) By 1964 large tracts on
either side of Bentham Road had been taken for
the municipal Wyke estate and some sites had
been sold near Victoria Park in Redruth and
Rutland roads. (fn. 398) Later sales included bombed
sites in Danesdale Road near Hackney Wick and
Hackney Terrace. (fn. 399) In 1976 the bulk, in
Cassland, Victoria Park, and adjoining roads,
was leased to the World of Property Housing
Trust (later the Sanctuary Housing Association). (fn. 400)
By 1990 the Cass Foundation retained a few
other isolated parcels in Hackney, including a
supermarket leased to Tesco Stores in Well
Street. (fn. 401)

Buildings acquired by Cass included a cottage
in Grove Street of 1516-17 and another of
1519-20, besides a house with a curtilage which
Leigh had sold to John Bowes by 1539-40. (fn. 402) The
first cottage was probably among lands granted
to Thomas Wood in 1618 (fn. 403) and one of two
houses held in 1658 by Henry Monger, whose
other house may have been that of Bowes, later
of the Dericotes. (fn. 404) One of Monger's houses was
the largest near Grove Street, assessed at 18
hearths, in 1664. (fn. 405) He leased a house called the
George, on the west side of Grove Street (later
the southern end of Lauriston Road), in 1664 (fn. 406)
and left another house, occupied by Edward
English, to Hester Eames in 1669. (fn. 407) Thomas
Cass leased English's house in 1694 (fn. 408) and lived
in one on the site of the George, as did his son
Sir John. Both houses were capital messuages in
1699, as was a third which had passed from
Monger to Cass; English's house was described
as on the east side of Grove Street and the third
house as on the west in 1699 but vice versa in
1719. (fn. 409) Sir John's widow leased his former residence, with its furnishings, to Henry Norris in
1722. (fn. 410) It stood empty in 1770, when English's
house was occupied by the Huguenot merchant
Peter Thelluson (d.1797). (fn. 411) The trustees' property on the west side of Grove Street was leased
to their surveyor Jesse Gibson in 1779. (fn. 412) By 1807
Gibson had replaced Cass's dilapidated seat with
two houses, one of them later Grove House
school, whose name was to be appropriated for
a school at Common House. (fn. 413)

Members of the Rhodes family were active as
brickmakers and land speculators in the late 18th
and early 19th centuries. William Rhodes (d.
1769), from Cheshire, bought land in St. Pancras
and was succeeded by his son Thomas (d.
1787), (fn. 414) who occupied most of Balmes farm by
1773. (fn. 415) Thomas's son Samuel Rhodes (d. 1794)
in 1775 held 97 a. of the Hackney House estate (fn. 416)
and had formerly held c. 22 a. near the Rosemary
Branch. (fn. 417) As Samuel Rhodes of Balmes, yeoman, he was granted leases by the Revd. Peter
de Beauvoir of c. 10 a. of Balmes farm with
power to dig brickearth in 1785 (fn. 418) and of the
farmhouse which he already occupied near Balmes House, with over 40 a. near the Rosemary
Branch, in 1789. (fn. 419) As Samuel Rhodes of Hoxton,
farmer, he bought the lands of F. J. Tyssen's
trustees east of Kingsland Road, including the
Lamb inn (fn. 420) and all or part of London Fields
farm, (fn. 421) in 1788-9. Those lands were later said to
form the LAMB FARM estate of c. 140 a.,
stretching from behind the buildings along
Kingsland Road eastward to London Fields,
northward to Dalston Lane and Pigwell brook,
and southward to the parish boundary. (fn. 422)

Samuel's property, in Hackney and elsewhere,
was divided in 1795 between his sons Samuel
Rhodes of Islington (d. 1822), Thomas (d. 1856),
and William (d. 1843). (fn. 423) William, who failed to
fulfil his plants for the Balmes House estate, had
wharves in Haggerston (fn. 424) and acquired his
brother Samuel's third part of the Hackney
lands, which he shared with his brother
Thomas. (fn. 425) The bulk of their estate, after a minor
exchange with Sir William Middleton in 1843,
passed to Thomas's grandson Thomas William
Rhodes (d. 1885) of Flore (Northants.) and to
William's sons William Arthur (d. 1856), whose
chief legatee was Thomas William, and the
Revd. Francis William (d. 1878). The Lamb
Farm estate consisted of terraced housing
stretching from Dalston Lane south to Albion
Road (later Drive) and bounded east by Greenwood and Lansdowne roads in 1874-5, when it
was divided between Thomas William, who
received the north-eastern and south-western
quarters, and Francis William, who received the
other two quarters. (fn. 426) Fragmentation followed
except in the north-west, where a block between
Dalston Lane and Queen's (later Queensbridge)
and Lenthall roads passed to Francis William,
whose fifth son was the imperialist Cecil Rhodes
(d. 1902). (fn. 427) Family trustees retained the property, mostly let on weekly tenancies, in 1939. (fn. 428)

A new farmhouse, which gave its name to the
estate, stood in 1789 on the site of the Lamb
inn. (fn. 429) Presumably it was reached from the high
road both by a cartway which became Lamb
Lane (later the west end of Forest Road) and by
Swan Lane; it may have been the 'Old Lamb'
marked east of Mayfield Road c. 1823. (fn. 430) A more
central house, probably built by 1807 for James
Grange, was reached from Swan Lane (later
Grange, then Lenthall, Road) and, as a 'retired
mansion' in walled grounds opposite St. Philip's
church, was called Richmond Lodge in 1870. (fn. 431)
None of the Rhodes family is known to have
lived there: Thomas Rhodes (d. 1856) retired to
Tottenham and his brother William (d. 1843) to
Leyton (Essex). (fn. 432)

Sir Francis Bickley, Bt. (d. 1670), master of the
Drapers' Company, was a Hackney vestryman
from 1630. (fn. 433) He retired to Norfolk and in 1667
sold his copyhold estate of DALSTON, centred
on BELDAMES (later called GRAHAM
HOUSE) to Sir Stephen White (d. 1678), who
left it to his cousin Stephen White (d. 1681). It
passed to Stephen's son Thomas, of the Middle
Temple, whose son Thomas was admitted in
1743 and conveyed it to James Graham in 1753. (fn. 434)
James's son Sir Robert (d. 1836) was admitted
to c. 35 a. in 1795. (fn. 435) Sir Robert, later a baron of
the Exchequer, who first mortgaged the estate
in 1797, (fn. 436) held in 1796 most of the houses which
formed the hamlet of Dalston and c. 47 a. lying
mainly between Pigwell brook and Shacklewell
Lane. (fn. 437) The estate passed to his sister Catherine
Graham (d. 1840) and then to their niece Catherine
Massie and her brother Henry George Massie,
R.N. (d. by 1864). The Massies sold land for the
railway and in the 1850s and 1860s on building
leases for Graham Road and streets to the north. (fn. 438)
The copyhold was enfranchised in 1864. (fn. 439)

A house assessed at 15 hearths was occupied
in 1664 by Bickley (fn. 440) and later by Sir Stephen
and Stephen White. (fn. 441) It was called Beldames in
1682 but not in 1743, when James Graham was
already resident. (fn. 442) Probably it was the house in
Dalston Road or Lane which was on lease with c. 2
a. to Mr. Pitt in 1796, opposite the later entrance
to the German hospital. (fn. 443) By 1849 called Graham
House and rebuilt, (fn. 444) it was inhabited in 1864 and
1880 by William Hodson, the speculative
builder, and afterwards by convalescents from
the hospital. (fn. 445) The three-storeyed stock-brick
house of c. 1800, with a later stuccoed porch and
single-storeyed addition, was an office of Circle
Thirty Three housing trust at no. 113 Dalston
Lane in 1992. (fn. 446) In the 1890s it was thought to
have lost the eastern part of its grounds to a
building called Manor House, (fn. 447) perhaps the
residence of 13 hearths (fn. 448) to which Alderman
Thomas Blackall (d. 1688) and his wife Mary,
née Offspring, the parents of Offspring Blackall,
bishop of Exeter (d. 1716), had been admitted
in 1660; as a copyhold of Lordshold it passed to
their son John Blackall in 1705 and may have
been acquired by Thomas White. (fn. 449) Manor
House, an old brick house let as lodgings by 1795 but
not among the Grahams' copyholds in 1796, later
served as Dalston Refuge for Destitute Females. (fn. 450)

Moses Keeling, a lawyer, and his wife Joanna
were admitted in 1653 to copyholds of Lordshold manor, including TOWER PLACE with
11 a. and a further 30 a. or more. Joanna was
the wife of John Pinchbeck in 1676; in addition
she held freeholds to the west, abutting Cobb's
(later Pratt's) Lane (later straightened as Glyn
Road) and recorded in 1565. Her children John
and Mary Keeling (fn. 451) sold the copyholds to
Thomas Hussey in 1684. Hussey conveyed them
in 1720 to Sir William Lewen (d. 1722), a former
lord mayor, who was succeeded by his nephews
George, Charles, and Robert Lewen. (fn. 452) All the
shares passed after a dispute to George, (fn. 453) whose
daughter Susanna married her kinsman Richard
Glyn (d. 1773), later lord mayor of London, a
baronet, and co-founder of the bank of Glyn,
Mills & Co. (fn. 454) In 1769 Sir Richard bought more
land at Homerton from the heirs of the Marlowe
family. (fn. 455) His son Sir George (d. 1814) (fn. 456) was
admitted to Tower Place in 1763. (fn. 457) Col. Thomas
Glyn (d. 1813), half-brother of Sir George, who
conveyed the whole estate to him in 1803,
granted leases from 1797. The colonel's son the
Revd. Thomas Clayton Glyn (d. 1860) was
succeeded by his eldest son Clayton William
Feake Glyn (d. 1887). (fn. 458) T. C. Glyn in 1849 held
41 a. of copyhold land on the north side of Marsh
Hill and Homerton Road, from the later Glyn
Road to the Hackney cut, besides a field west of
Brooksby's Walk and c. 23 a. of freehold. C. W.
F. Glyn made leases from 1862, enfranchising
the land in 1868 and 1880. (fn. 459)

An unnamed capital messuage on the north
side of Homerton Street was recorded in 1565
and stood in 1649 and 1683 on the west corner
of Cobb's Lane. It was claimed to have been
freehold and may have been acquired separately
from Tower Place. Tower Place was described
in 1653 as near Hackney marsh and in 1797 was
presumably represented by a rectangular moated
enclosure of 2 a. 3 r. on the north side of the
road at Marsh gate. (fn. 460) From its size it may have
been one of the unidentified houses in Homerton
occupied by a nobleman in 1605. (fn. 461) It was a ruin
by 1684, when its site included a dovecot and a
cottage. (fn. 462) The Moat House, shown as apparently
inside the enclosure in 1849 but gone by 1870,
was remembered in the 1890s as having been an
'old fashioned square built' residence. (fn. 463) The
moat, visible in 1891, was about to be covered
by Trehurst Road in 1910. (fn. 464)

Separate estates were held by two families
named ALVARES, whose relationship has not
been established. A copyhold house in Homerton
Street was surrendered in 1624 with 10 a. by
Rachel Denham and acquired in 1643 by Robert
Johnson, whose daughters, including Elizabeth Carteret, were admitted in 1662. (fn. 465) Sir
Edward Carteret sold it in 1674 to Isaac Alvares
(d. 1684), a London jeweller, whose daughter
Deborah and her husband David Alvares sold it
to George Bonnett, cutler of London, in 1698. (fn. 466)
Sarah, wife of Charles Milborne, was admitted
under Bonnett's will in 1707. George Milborne
(d. 1758) held Bonnett's house, two others on the
south side of the high street with closes of 4 a., and
10 a. called Gill mead east of Wick Lane and
south of Marsh Hill. (fn. 467) Bonnett's may have been
the gabled house leased as a workhouse. (fn. 468) George
Milborne's son Charles, like George, lived in Monmouthshire. (fn. 469) Under his will dated 1774 Charles's
Marsh Hill estate, copyhold of Lordshold, was
conveyed to his granddaughters Martha, Mary, and
Elizabeth Swinnerton in 1812. (fn. 470)

Jacob Alvares the elder, otherwise Alvaro da
Fonseca (d. 1742), in 1716 had gone from a burnt
down house in Clapton and in 1717 was in Mare
Street, where in 1730 he bought a capital messuage
and 6 other copyhold houses for his greatgrandson Isaac Jessurun Alvares. The residence,
once Thomas Byfield's, had been left by a
London mercer Thomas Blackmore to his
grandson Raymond Blackmore by will dated
1708. (fn. 471) Isaac acquired neighbouring sites, (fn. 472) began building a house next to his own, and left
copyholds by will proved 1809 (fn. 473) to his illegitimate sons George Jenkins of Woodford (Essex)
and Richard Jenkins and their mother Catherine
(d. 1811). George replaced the main residence
with small houses and by will proved 1846 left
the 'Lamb Lane estate' to his widow Matilda
and children, subject to provision for Richard's
widow. (fn. 474) In 1852 Matilda Jenkins held property
on either side of Pembroke House and stretching
back to London Fields, containing 41 houses in
Helmsley Street, Place, and Terrace; it included
Melbourne Lodge asylum and West House, both
leased to Dr. Williams. (fn. 475) Immediately to the
south a house facing London Fields passed to
Richard and in 1852 to Catherine Jenkins, who
sold it to John Graves. (fn. 476)

Another Jewish family, that of the tobacco
merchant Joshua Israel Brandon who came to
Clapton in 1742, (fn. 477) likewise held property at
Homerton and London Fields. Trustees under
the will of his widow Esther (d. 1789) assigned
quit rents for the Homerton residence to her son
Jacob da Fonseca Brandon in 1832 (fn. 478) and a
nursery ground south of Exmouth Place was sold
for his daughters Esther, Caroline, and Jesse
Brandon in 1846. (fn. 479)

The estate of the RYDER family (fn. 480) originated
in copyholds of Lordshold, Kingshold, and
Grumbolds bought by Richard Ryder (d. 1733),
a draper and member of the Skinners' Company.
His father Dudley had perhaps been drawn to
Hackney as the brother-in-law of the Congregationalist Robert Billio, William Bates's
successor. (fn. 481) Richard in 1704 bought some of Sir
Thomas Cooke's property on behalf of his son
Richard (d. by 1739), also a skinner. It included
the later Upton House, the family home until
1721 of Sir Dudley Ryder (d. 1756), the judge
and diarist. (fn. 482) The Ryders had built more
houses at Homerton by 1717 and moved to
Church Street, where property of Sir George
Vyner's heirs, including the Black and White
House, was added from 1706. (fn. 483)

Under the elder Richard Ryder's will his son
Sir Dudley (d. 1756) received property at
Homerton. (fn. 484) Sir Dudley's son Nathaniel, Baron
Harrowby (d. 1803), made leases in 1757 and
1759 and sold 12 houses and the Plough in
1785. (fn. 485) The buyers included David Powell (d.
1810), elder brother of James (d. 1824), whose
house was sold to Charles Rivaz in 1847. (fn. 486)

Meanwhile the younger Richard left all his
Hackney lands to his widow Ann (née Lomax),
who was admitted in 1740, with remainder to
his son Lomax, who was admitted in 1759 (fn. 487) and
acquired more Vyner property in 1765. (fn. 488) Lomax
Ryder (d. 1779) was succeeded by his brother
Thomas (d. 1812), who was licensed to make
leases for up to 61 years. (fn. 489) Thomas's heirs were
the sons of Nathaniel Ryder, Baron Harrowby:
Dudley, earl of Harrowby (d. 1847), Richard (d.
1832), and Henry, bishop of Lichfield and
Coventry (d. 1836). (fn. 490) After the bishop's nine
sons had been admitted in 1840 the eldest,
Canon Henry Dudley Ryder (d. 1877), acquired
the others' interests and also those of the earl's
younger son Granville Dudley Ryder. Many
leases were granted by the canon's sons Henry
Dudley (d. 1904) and Lieut. Harry Lefevre (d.
1880), the first of whom acquired the interest of
H. L. Ryder's widow Frances Elizabeth and
left copyholds to his sister and four half-sisters. (fn. 491) In the 1840s the four houses of Ryder
Place, together with Bohemia Place and Bell's
Yard, formed the built-up corner along
Church Street of land stretching from the
churchyard across Hackney brook to Morning
Lane. (fn. 492) Part, including Ryder Place, was sold
to the E. & W. India Docks & Birmingham
Junction Railway in 1847. (fn. 493) The canon's last
surviving daughter Mary Emma Ryder paid
compensation for enfranchisement of property
in Chalgrove Road in 1931. (fn. 494)

Upton House, the home of Richard Ryder (d.
1733) but not apparently of his heirs, (fn. 495) was a
three-storeyed brick building of the late 17th
century, probably rebuilt in 1776-7. As no. 10
Upper Homerton and finally as no. 2 Urswick
Road it became a truant school and was demolished c. 1885. (fn. 496)

William Spurstowe, (fn. 497) former vicar of Hackney,
left to his brother Henry (d. 1677) part of his
copyhold estate, comprising six houses and 7 a.
and including SPURSTOWE'S HOUSE. (fn. 498)
The estate passed to Henry's granddaughter
Anne Spurstowe, whose husband William
Skrine sold it in 1719 to Francis Douce (d. 1760),
a physician, (fn. 499) who acquired more land to the
west. Douce's nephew and namesake in 1761
sold a house and some land to the vestry clerk
Richard Dann (fn. 500) and much of the estate including
Spurstowe's house to Sir John Silvester, an army
physician, who built five houses in the later
Sylvester Road which he retained for his son
John on selling the rest of the property to Dann
in 1777. (fn. 501) Dann and his son Richard, who
succeeded in 1800, took leases of adjoining lands.
Executors in 1838 sold parts of Dann's estate
to Sir William Middleton and parts to Samuel
Nelme, a retired silversmith and already a
tenant at no. 2 Grove Place, where he may have
resided rather than in Spurstowe's house when
murdered in 1847. (fn. 502) Other parts had been sold
to Thomas Wilkinson, who also bought much
of Nelme's property, although Spurstowe's
house was sold with c. 6 a., as Nelme had
agreed, to the E. & W. India Docks & Birmingham Junction Railway Co. (fn. 503)

Spurstowe's house was assessed at 16 hearths,
the third highest in Church Street, in 1664. (fn. 504)
It stood immediately south of the confluence
of Pigwell and Hackney brooks, which fed
ornamental canals in the 1720s, when the
water's diversion led to litigation. The brooks
formed the garden's northern boundary in 1761,
by which date the canals had largely made
way for less formal features. (fn. 505) Landscaping
was continued by Silvester, who employed the
young Conrad Loddiges and whose garden
and parkland in 1777 included a Chinese bridge,
soon to be broken down, a grotto, a Gothic
hermitage, and five waterfalls. Silvester often
resided at Bath (fn. 506) and may not have much
altered the house, which presumably was built
in the 17th century and was enlarged c. 1800
for the Danns. It was tenanted in 1838, called
Park House in the 1840s, used as a home for
Islington's pauper children from c. 1849 to
1855, and demolished by 1862, to be replaced
by a terrace on the south side of Amhurst
Road.